# METHODOLOGY — Psychological Well-being in Researchers and University Students (2019-2024)
## Version 2 | 2026-03-19

## 1. Objective
Compile comparative statistics on psychological well-being among academic populations globally,
focusing on stress, burnout, career satisfaction, work-life balance and institutional support
during 2019-2024, including the COVID-19 pandemic impact period.

## 2. Data Collection Strategy
Tool: Perplexity AI Pro (semantic literature search), February 2026.
Cross-validation: all values verified against primary sources (PubMed/PMC, Nature, OECD, APA).

Search terms used:
- "academic burnout researchers prevalence 2019-2024"
- "university student mental health COVID-19 stress PSS-10"
- "PhD student psychological wellbeing Nature survey"
- "work-life balance academics OECD satisfaction"
- "MBI burnout university faculty subscales"

## 3. Inclusion Criteria
- Peer-reviewed studies, meta-analyses, or large institutional surveys
- Published 2019-2024
- n >= 100 participants (surveys); n >= 500 (meta-analyses)
- Used validated instruments: PSS-10, MBI, WHO-5, GHQ-12, or UWES
- Academic/university populations: students, PhD, postdoc, or faculty

## 4. Exclusion Criteria
- Non-academic occupational populations
- Single-country studies with n < 100
- Studies without validated psychological instruments
- Opinion pieces or editorials without empirical data

## 5. Psychological Instruments
- PSS-10 (Perceived Stress Scale): range 0-40; cutoffs: low <14, moderate 14-26, high >26
- MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory): emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment
- WHO-5 Well-Being Index: range 0-100 (scores below 50 indicate poor well-being)
- UWES (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale): vigor, dedication, absorption subscales

## 6. Limitations
- Burnout prevalence varies by MBI subscale cutoffs (not standardized across studies)
- COVID-19 period (2020-2022) may inflate stress and burnout estimates vs. pre-pandemic
- Latin America underrepresented in primary literature vs. North America and Europe
- Self-report bias inherent in all survey-based psychological data
- Cross-study comparisons limited by heterogeneous sampling strategies

## 7. Primary Sources
Nature (2019, 2022) PhD/Postdoc global surveys; Wellcome Trust (2020) mental health study;
OECD Education at a Glance (2022, 2024); APA Stress in America surveys;
PMC meta-analyses: Evans et al. (2018, Nat. Biotechnology), Levecque et al. (2017, Research Policy).